Thoughtleadership for Successful
CRM and Sales Process

Posts Tagged as‘CRM implementation’

As the CEO of CampaignerCRM, the one thing I hear all the time from prospects is "please, please make it easier to use for my sales reps!" "Making it easier to use" has been a guiding beacon for CampaignerCRM and our engineering teams since day one.

I’ve been in the hi-tech space for nearly 40 years and the cry to "make it easier to use" has always been important for end-user adoption and successful deployments of any software product. I have found that over the years, product managers often focus on new wiz bang features that customers never use instead of adding new functionality that actually makes a product easier to use. But often, the "we put it in because we can build it" approach may be nice, but it overlooks what it ultimately means to the end user. Does it really add value? Does it actually make it easier for them? Those are two aspects that can make the difference between successful adoption and annoyance.

For example, last week, we introduced two major new "ease-of-use" features that allow campaignercrm customers to easily integrate with two significant business tools: QuickBooks and Gmail. The two products can now be seamlessly (and easily) integrated to synchronize and share information between their platforms with CampaignerCRM giving the sales team easy access to accurate and always up-to-date information, from wherever they work.

Most CRM systems do a number of things well. They capture information about the customer. Some, like CampaignerCRM, track the steps of the sales process to help the sales team work effectively through the sales cycle, capturing details in the notes and keeping information organized and accessible, all in a central location.

The tough part is getting all of the emails, presentations, documents and more that are part of the sales ‘conversation’ into that same system. Unless they’re copied or entered into the system, these elements are unavailable to the rest of the sales organization. And, manually entering them into the system is clearly not a salesperson’s favorite activity, so the CRM system suffers.

So much for ease of use!

Our recent release is a great example of the many ways that we work to make CampaignerCRM easier to use. It’s all about the value that the user gets by using the system. For example, by integrating QuickBooks into campaignercrm, your sales people can now easily generate accurate estimates, sales orders, receipts and more without having to involve the back office. Because accurate information is being shared and visible from a central resource, both departments benefit in a number of ways. But, in the process, the salesperson has shortened the time between making the sale and invoicing the customer. For a commission-driven salesperson, that’s a great use of their time and the sales tool becomes one that they’re motivated and eager to use.

It’s the same idea with our new Gmail integration. By synchronizing your Gmail contacts and emails with CampaignerCRM, you capture all of the sales process communication into one central file. Your salespeople and managers see a chronology of the communication with the customer, giving them insight to help make the deal move along in the right direction. No one wastes time hunting for the critical missing email, the right presentation that was shared or even the customer’s responses. Everything is all there in one place. Once again, when you make the salesperson’s job easier, they’re more likely to adopt – and use – your CRM system.

Making things easier is what makes a CRM system something that’s actually enjoyable for your team to use. If CRM’s create new tools or features and don’t clearly show how valuable it can be to the user – and their managers, then my conclusion is easy: the cry for “ease of use” won’t change at all for the next 40 years!

I have recently had the displeasure of teaching my mom, now in her early 60's, how to use the shiny new laptop we got her for Christmas. It was a great idea in theory: let’s get her something so she can email family and friends who live out of state, allow us to send her digital pictures of family and friends the minute they’re taken, and allow her to access the wealth of information on the Internet to feed her curiosity. I added shortcuts to all sorts of things on her desktop to give her more things to play with. I showed her how to access Solitare.

What we quickly found out is that what I perceive as simple (due to my 2+ decades of exposure to computers) was overwhelming, intimidating and confusing to her. Things I showed her on Monday, she forgot on Tuesday. She would call me asking what this pop-up screen was and where it came from (I of course had no idea). She was confused how her web mail had 2 different ways to get to her Inbox, and each looked a little bit different. Things I thought she would find "cool" and put on her desktop were just additional things she didn’t know how to work. The lesson: Just because her computer COULD do 1,001 things, and I found them easy to use, doesn’t mean that she wanted or needed them. Or at least not yet.

Eventually, after a few months of figuring out how to check and send email, what "reply" vs. "reply all" meant, and her finally getting the hint that I didn't want her forwarding me chain letters any more, she "got it." She was ready to move on to updating her desktop with a picture, or buying airline tickets online. She got comfortable with the basics, and tried new things bit by bit.

My job is to help customers get up and running on CampaignerCRM. I find more and more that customers want to buy their sales team a new and shiny system with all sorts of bells and whistles, turn them all on, roll it out to the team and expect them to be WOWED all of these cool things. "Hey, look at this chart showing you the position of the moon right now, isn’t that cool?!"

Unfortunately, what happens all too often is that the sales team gets overwhelmed with learning dozens of new steps and functions. They are expected to run before they walk, or even sprint before they walk. End result: they fold their arms and refuse to use it on the grounds that it’s too complicated.

CampaignerCRM, much like other programs and systems these days, has a lot of capabilities. Fortunately, only a handful of them are really "required" at the core to use it from the start. The additional features, which are "optional", do indeed add value, sometimes tremendous value, to any sales organization. However, always be cognizant of the team that will be using it, their previous experience with similar systems (good and bad), and be sensitive to the learning curve of a new system. Consider enabling additional features, modules or data requirements after a few weeks or months of regular usage.

Allow them to walk before they run. Your adoption will be better for it.

With spring here, my thoughts have turned to working in my yard again. Because I live in New England and the good weather lasts for only a short while, it’s important to get the job done right the first time, if I expect to have time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Gathering my tools, I noticed that some of them are ready to be replaced after several seasons of use. Now, I’ve always believed in buying good quality yard tools, because I think of them as an investment. I don’t automatically choose the most expensive one, but I know that spending an extra few dollars on the right tool generally means it will last longer and make it easier for me to get the job done right the first time. That’s worth a lot, given the limited timeframe I have.

Take the typical lawn rake, for example. A good one is about 24"-wide, has a solid, comfortable handle, and lets you rake the yard in about a half an hour; all for roughly $20. On the other hand, a typical $10 rake will be 12"-wide, has teeth that break and the handle will likely give you blisters. Yeah, it’s half the price, but now you’ll likely need an hour of time – twice as long – to do the same job. And, it’ll end up being unusable after a few uses, leading to another trip to the store to buy a new one.

Cheap things are cheap for a reason. You may save money in the short term, but you’ll likely end up doing more work or end up needing to buying a replacement sooner than later. Or, conversely, you could buy the most expensive one, just because you’ve “heard it’s good” when, if you just did a little careful comparison you’d find one that’s delivers exactly the same quality, but at a reasonable price. In any case, neither is a good way to invest your money – or your time.

What does this have to do with CRM?

When a company looks at adding a CRM system to their sales organization, it’s easy to look at the big boys because they’ve evidently "heard its good." They see lots of features, options and choices. But, very quickly, the sticker shock sets in. For most SMB’s cost is a big issue, so they quickly look to less pricey companies – but still expect a similar level of quality.

There are a number of very low-priced CRM tools out there – and many offer lots of really good features. However, like I said earlier, cheap is cheap for a reason and, as they say, the devil is in the details – especially in the CRM world. Many ‘inexpensive’ CRM systems end up with hidden costs such as limited customization options, limited interoperability and connectivity with legacy systems. More importantly, many may not offer the right level of service or support that a growing SMB organization needs, even just year or two down the road.

This is not to say that you get it all with the big-boys, either. CRM on this level can quickly become complicated and include a wide range of customizable options custom-tailored specifically to your organization's needs. But, this kind of flexibility comes with a high price tag, reflecting the time involved to identify what needs to be customized, hiring the right people needed to make it work just right and then factoring in the ongoing cost of supporting it.

Now, while a rake and CRM are two very different things, the principle is the same. You have to look at a CRM’s quality and understand how well it will help you get the job done. In my opinion, a good CRM system is one that works the way your organization works. It should be customized to reflect the way your sales team works, not make them change a successful style to simply fit a cookie-cutter mold. It should let you easily customize the things that you need, but not involve a complicated procedure or require an engineering degree. Think about how much time you want to spend building your CRM system vs. getting results from using it. And getting things running right the first time shouldn’t take a major amount of time.

In the end, the time you invest to clearly understand what your company really needs a CRM system to do and what kinds of tools it should have to do the job is critical to finding the right CRM tool.

You need to invest in a CRM system that gets the job done right the first time, while being sure that it won’t ‘break’ after just a few uses. It’s is a lot like knowing you’ve found the really ‘good’ rake: when it works well, you’ll see the results immediately.

And, for me, whether I’ve found a good rake or a good CRM system, the best ROI means less time spent working in the 'yard' and more time enjoying it.

Some CRM systems are hosted in-house, while others exist "in the cloud".

Some CRM systems are ready-to-go quickly but are difficult to customize, while others are infinitely flexible but require substantial up-front work.

Some CRM system vendors are huge (have you heard of Siebel, SAP and Salesforce?), while others are small (like Salesforce was not so long ago!).

That's all well and good, but it has nothing to do with helping you predict whether your CRM efforts will help drive your business forward or will fail miserably.

So what is the real predictor of success?

Sales rep adoption. If your sales reps resist using your CRM, or if they only use it reluctantly and in a limited fashion, your success will be equally limited. But if your sales reps use your CRM system willingly, fully and enthusiastically, you will reap the hoped-for rewards in sales effectiveness, sales efficiency and customer service – all of which translates to a thing called "profit".

How can you choose a CRM system that your salespeople will actually use? Here are a few basic guidelines:

1. Understand and document your needs (and the needs of your salespeople) before you choose.

• Is your sales model transactional in nature or is it oriented to account management?

• Simple sales or complex sales?

• Are opportunities and contacts a 1-to-1 relationship, or 1-to-many?

• Have you defined your sales process, from lead to opportunity to sale?

• Which functional groups will be using the CRM system besides for Sales? Marketing? Customer Service? Technical Support? Accounting?

2. Was the system designed for salespeople, for management or for both?

The only viable choice is "both". Management is not going to invest in a system that does not satisfy their needs, so the key is to ensure that the needs of your salespeople are also met. How do you do that? Reference checks are a given, but go one step further – put one or more of your experienced sales reps on the evaluation team, and tell them that they will be using what they select, so they need to speak up!

3. Choose a system that will be available quickly.

Your salespeople need an effective CRM system now – a lengthy implementation process will cost you in terms of lost productivity. That said…

Reality check: Rome wasn't built in a day, and no matter what your CRM vendor claims, if you issue a P.O. on Monday your salespeople won't be using the CRM system on Tuesday. Realistically, the system should be productive within days, at most. Perhaps not fully customized to your liking, but functional.

4. Choose a system that can be easily customized, without the need for expensive consultants.

Cost is the obvious reason, but it's not the only one. Your needs will evolve over time – that's a given – and your "day 1 spec" won't meet your needs forever. Unfortunately, if the cost of customizing your CRM system is high, chances are you will resist doing it, and you'll be stuck with a system that is a poor fit.

If your system cannot meet the evolving needs of your salespeople, they will stop using it. Back to square one.

5. Know what you're getting.

Is everything you saw in the demo included in the base price, or are some things chargeable add-ons? Chances are that your needs will grow over time, and once you enjoy the benefits of sales force automation your appetite will grow. You are better off selecting a system that is "fully featured" than one that you have to purchase "a la carte" – you won't know which options to choose up front, and you'll either wind up with less than you need or pay much more in the long run.

And speaking of cost, what about the cost of maintenance and upgrades?

6. Choose a "choosy" vendor.

There is no "one size fits all" CRM solution. Given that, choose a vendor that won't just sell to "anybody". That may sound strange, but just think about it... You are trying hard to select a system and a vendor that meets your unique requirements. Each CRM vendor that you speak with will know whether their system is a good fit for you, and they'll know it a lot sooner than you will. Your vendor should be qualifying you!

My wife and I have a 10 year old Pit Bull / American Bulldog mix, Taddy. I have a love/hate relationship with this dog, mainly due to her unrelenting appetite. More specifically, she has learned that if she whines long enough and is “cute” enough, one of us will eventually give in and give her some treats to quell her for awhile so she will leave us alone and allow me to finish watching this week’s episode of Boardwalk Empire in peace.

Multiple times in the past, I had loudly proclaimed that I had enough, and this would never cease unless we put our foot down and stopped rewarding this behavior with food. I said to my wife, we need to grin and bear the whining for awhile and teach her that she cannot simply get her way every time. Eventually, though, perhaps more quickly than I would care to admit, she would slowly chip away at our (my wife’s) will through brute force whining or “sad puppy face,” we give in, and the cycle continues.

So, why the heck am I telling you this?

I work with far too many sales managers or executives who have the proverbial dog(s) in their sales team who complain loudly enough, or simply ignore them, and eventually win the war of attrition in adopting the new CRM system that you know will provide you and your company significant benefit.

Sales Management may say, “We really mean it!” but continue to accept spreadsheets and sticky notes, showing that they don’t really mean it after all. Eventually, these managers give up, go back to their old, less productive ways, waste the time and money they invested on purchasing and deploying a new CRM and show the sales team members that the inmates run the asylum.

You may be saying, “Wes, you just said you give in to your dog, and now you’re telling us NOT to give in to our sales people!” Fair enough, however I don’t spend a couple hundred, or a couple of thousand dollars a month on my dog, plus initial deployment expenses, only to flush it down the toilet because she is cute and persistent. She also doesn’t help my house run more efficiently and effectively, in fact quite the opposite. Trust me, if I were spending that kind of money or had that much to gain, I’d either have an ultra-obedient dog, or I’d have to vacuum far less each month because we’d be less one mutt in our house.

A few tips for sales managers implementing a new CRM from some of my most successful customers:

1. Learn the system yourself – How can you demand with a straight face that your team use something that you yourself don’t take the time to learn? Show them that you’ve committed to learning it and you expect them to do the same.

This also allows you to shoot down comments that “It’s too hard” or “I don’t have time.” This is the first go-to excuse for sales people. You might even believe it, if you didn’t know better. When you can say you know from experience that it is not, in fact, too difficult or time consuming, there’s little they can do to argue.

2. Make Your System Central to Meetings/Reviews – If you have regular meetings with your sales people, individually or as a group, use your new system & reports as a central part to that meeting. Review their pipeline as it appears in your new tool. Show wins & losses as reported in the system.

The team will quickly get the hint that they better have it up to speed by these meetings, or risk being embarrassed.

3. Flex your muscle, if need be - I once heard our VP of Customer Care, Chuck Brownfield, tell a customer who was having a hard time getting his team to use campaignercrm, “I manage our VIP & Support group, and if one of them told me they refused use the ticketing system we put in place to track their activity, they wouldn’t be working for me for long.” While you may consider this extreme, the concept is the same: they’re ignoring something you have put in place and mandated be used, that your company has invested money in, and will make you (and them) more successful in the long run. So, if polite conversations are not getting the point across, have a more direct conversation.

I even have customers who only pay out commission based on what is reported in their system. Guess how up-to-date that company’s CRM is?